Examining Intersections between FGM/C and other Social Oppressions: A Research Project

Increase impact to end female genital cutting: How to build cross-movement collaborative partnerships

Together, we can find opportunities to build a more equitable world.

Since November 2023, Sahiyo has provided presentations, training, and technical assistance to our allies and partner organizations related to our survivor and advocate-led research project. Our aim is to highlight how the movement to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) intersects with related social justice movements and systems of oppression, such as: climate change, queer gender and sexuality, bodily autonomy, race/racism, religion, feminism, and law and policy. 

Our trainings support organizations to do the following:

  • Build holistic programs that identify the intersectional identities and associated needs of FGM/C survivors
  • Identify components of building successful collaborations across organizations focused on different social oppressions (i.e. systemic racism and FGM/C)
  • Compile tools, resources, case studies, and more that illustrate how cross-collaboration can be carried out within the larger social justice field 

Trainings Available:

  • Introduction to Intersections with FGM/C- Exploring the overarching themes derived from our initial review on the state of intersectionality in regards to FGM/C: race/racism, religion, bodily autonomy, feminism, law and policy, Queer gender and sexuality, and climate change.  
  • Examining Specific Intersections- How oppressive systems, such as racism, impact FGM/C survivors and advocates working to end FGM/C. This presentation includes examples derived from participants working in FGM/C and other related fields collected from throughout the research project. Recommendations are also discussed for how to build intersectional approaches to address FGM/C. 

If you and your organization would like to learn more, reach out to Rachel Wine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

NEWEST REPORT

Examining Intersections Between Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and Social Oppressions: A Qualitative Study is the third and final report in the Critical Intersections Research Project; it focuses on the results of in-depth interviews with 29 key experts, social justice advocates, and organizations in the anti-FGM/C movement and other related social justice movements.

The report focused on prominent intersections discussed in the former two reports:

  • Race

  • LGBTQIA+

  • Religion

  • Gender

Challenges to and opportunities for cross-collaboration across social movements to end FGM/C.
Recommendations for intersectional approaches to end FGM/C:
1
Coordinate with social service sectors across various social justice issues to improve support and resources for survivors.
2
Improve language and framing of FGM/C to limit racialization and/or exclusion of marginalized communities in terms of who is impacted by FGM/C.
3
Increase education on how FGM/C is intersectional within anti-FGM/C organizations, as well as across different movements/sectors.
4
Implement more diverse and equitable approaches to data collection, analysis, and dissemination that include input from a diverse array of stakeholders.

Since 2021, we have connected with over 100 advocates in the FGM/C and related fields to better understand how to build cross-collaborative partnerships thoughtfully and sustainably. 

HISTORY

In 2022, Sahiyo initiated the Critical Intersections Research Project based on a popular 2021 webinar Critical Intersections: AntiRacism and Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting (FGM/C).

The webinar examined the effects of racism on FGM/C survivors and the movement to end FGM/C. This expanded research project similarly seeks this topic with the following questions: 

Upon initiating this project, Sahiyo discovered that in addition to systemic racism, several other factors of the human experience intersect with FGM/C to tell a larger story of critical intersections. Our initial project aims expanded to include: 

Examining the Current State of Critical Intersections: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and Social Oppressions

Identifying current understandings of critical factors intersecting with FGM/C is helpful to outline the gaps in our knowledge and understand how they impact the work being done to end FGM/C globally. This body of work, which is the first initiative of the Critical Intersections Research Project, established an important foundation for further exploration of the topic.

Sahiyo compiled an extensive body of works, including peer-reviewed literature, editorials, opinion pieces, reviews, and social media communications, to better understand how intersectionality comes across within the movement to end FGM/C. From this review, we produced a set of themes commonly discussed when it comes to FGM/C and intersectionality. 

The report is organized around seven core themes that intersect with FGM/C and interact with each other to create a complex picture:

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“... religion is often misused in regards to FGM/C… as a weapon against survivors… and almost protecting those committing this harm”

-Sameera Qureshi, Sahiyo’s Religion and FGC Panel 

“Not knowing what happened to my body at such a young age led to a dissonance between body and being. If I can't even understand what my body went through, how do I gain a sense of bodily autonomy?”

- Saza Faradilla, personal communication, November 2022 

” …rather than to begin with women’s sexual liberation, which played a prominent part in Western second-wave feminist agenda, African feminists have approached FGC by strengthening women’s social, economic, and political standing in society in order to give women themselves the weapons to fight FGC.”

- Emmaleena Käkelä, Rethinking Female Genital Cutting: From a Culturalist to a Structuralist Framework for Challenging Violence Against Women 

“... in certain communities, there is an inherent, underlying racism that separates so-called ‘African FGM/C’ from ‘Asian’ or ‘other medicalized FGM/C’... we see that as a way to justify the ‘least severe forms’ of FGM/C…”

- Mariya Taher, Law, Justice and Development Webinar, World Bank 

“I realized that female genital mutilation is not just about maintaining sexual abstinence but also ensuring that I conform to cis-heteronormative standards of femininity. ”

- Dena Igusti, “She/They” – On Being a Non-Binary Survivor of Female Genital Mutilation 

“In a country with deep cultural ties to FGM and no ban on the practice, law enforcement has no place, and officers are afraid to intervene… they can’t enforce what does not exist. Critical attention must be given to raising awareness and engaging men and boys in the conversation around FGM”

 

-Dr. Nina Smart, personal communication, November 2022

“There's nothing that is being done at the moment. Very little, just a conversation at the global level, that is slightly prevalent at the national level, and there's nothing at the community level. It is still a theory. And these people are not yet connecting the dots between climate change and all the other impacts. And I am here as a front-line advocate, but I do not really understand the full degree of climate change and how we can mitigate it.”

- Domtila Chesang, personal communication, December 2022 

Examining Intersections Between Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting And Social Oppressions: A Mixed Methods Study

This is the second report, compiled from the results of a mixed-methods survey distributed to over 100 experts, advocates, and organizations in the field of FGM/C prevention and other related social movements. 

Research findings reinforce themes from our initial report and added new intersections to the conversation.

The report is divided into three sections:
1
Systemic forces, including discrimination within systems and institutions;
2
Interpersonal and communal forces, such as discrimination from within practicing communities and the movement to end FGM/C; and
3
Cross-collaboration with other social justice movements, and the various challenges and opportunities.
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The report also includes recommendations for cross-sector collaboration that can uplift the larger themes of inequity at play involving the mission to end FGM/C: 

  • Ensure resources, terminology, and information on and about FGM/C is accessible, equitable, and does not reinforce unequal systems of power. 
  • Implement programming that addresses the intersectional needs of survivors from diverse backgrounds. 
  • Create opportunities for building a foundation to support cross collaboration across social justice movements, including introductory activities, education initiatives, and training programs, before seeking cross-collaboration with other social justice movements and cross-sector funding. 
  • Initiate and facilitate brainstorming sessions for legitimate opportunities for synergistic collaboration led by intersectional organizations.
  • Uplift more equitable systems of funding that prioritize community based organizations working with practicing communities, using a bottom-up approach. 
  • Consider the nuance of geographic location, particularly in regard to local laws and cultural acceptability of various social justice issues when seeking potential partnerships and cross collaboration. 
  • Recognize the strength of diverse approaches to framing FGM/C, as opposed to the exclusive use of a single label, for anti-FGM/C work and collaborations with other movements.
  • Consider interpersonal challenges, including discrimination within practicing communities, when framing the topic with survivors and generating approaches to ending FGM/C.